Canada recalled its ambassador to Iran on Wednesday after Tehran barred Canadian observers from the trial of an agent charged with beating a Canadian journalist to death in a jail. Intelligence Ministry agent Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi goes on trial Saturday, charged with "semi-premeditated murder" of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian freelance journalist of Iranian origin who died July 10, 2003. Kazemi was detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during student-led protests against the ruling Islamic establishment. Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham asked Iran to allow foreign observers to attend the trial, and on Wednesday he voiced his "extreme outrage" at the Iranian decision. "They had promised that we would have three observers. This is completely unacceptable behavior on their part," Graham said. "It's a complete rejection of the rule of law. ... Justice will not be done behind closed doors in Iran."
| Sure, but it's not like Canada is going to do anything about it. |
A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry defended the decision on state television Wednesday. "Iran has no obligation to accept the request for the presence of Canadian observers in this trial," Hamid Reza Asefi said. "It is unacceptable and contrary to all international regulations." But Graham said international legal standards require the case to be an open trial "with the right, certainly, of the family to be present to assure that justice is done." |
